Thomas Masaryk was born in Hodonin Moravia
(then part of the Austrian empire) on March 7, 1850 into a working class
family. In 1882 he was appointed Professor of Philosophy at the Czech
University in Prague. The next year, he published the magazine Athenaeum,
devoted to Czech culture and science.

During World War I, he argued for Czech independence
in Switzerland, France,
Britain, Italy,
Russia, and the United
States. In 1917, he took permission from Bolshevik
leaders to organize the Czech Legion. When he arrived in the United States,
President Wilson recognized him as leader of an independent state on September
3, 1918.

In 1918, he was elected "president and
liberator" of Czechoslovakia.
He was reelected in 1920, 1927, and 1934. In 1935, at the age of eight-five
he retired. Masaryk died in Castle Lana on September 14, 1937.”